AUSTIN — When Rick Perry warned darkly that those behind his indictment “will be held accountable,” Craig McDonald felt a target on his back.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

McDonald heads the left-leaning nonprofit group Texans for Public Justice, which has rankled politicians in both parties for years by tracking campaign contributions with a ruthless efficiency to reveal big money in politics.

Texans for Public Justice filed the complaint against Perry that led to an investigation and his indictment on charges of coercion and abuse of authority. The Republican governor is accused of illegally trying to force the Democratic Travis County district attorney from office by threatening to withhold state funds.

Perry says he’s innocent. He’s hired an all-star legal team and a hard-charging Democratic public relations operative who once aided a beleaguered Bill Clinton in the White House.

Not long after his indictment, a defiant Perry complained “this farce of a prosecution will be revealed for what it is” and vowed “those responsible will be held accountable.”

McDonald says he’s not sure what that means. But his group is no stranger to political retaliation from powerful politicians unhappy about being put in the spotlight.

When Texans for Public Justice challenged U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay over questionable campaign finances, the blowback was swift and potent. The Internal Revenue Service audited the group’s books after a DeLay ally, Rep. Sam Johnson of Plano, told the IRS he suspected tax violations. Johnson was a member of the committee responsible for oversight of the IRS.

Auditors descended on the small Texans for Public Justice office in Austin and combed through its books. They found nothing, according to a letter the IRS sent the group.

DeLay was indicted and convicted of money laundering in Texas legislative races. The conviction was overturned on appeal, and years later, the case is still in the courts.

The group incurred then-Attorney General John Cornyn’s wrath by raising ethical questions about his fundraising practices in 2000. Now a U.S. senator, Cornyn was collecting campaign money from interests — including tobacco companies and gun makers — that attorneys general themselves might take to court.

The state’s system of electing judges came under challenge in a federal lawsuit. Cornyn responded by subpoenaing thousands of pages of Texans for Public Justice records to find out where it gets its money. The group wasn’t even a plaintiff in the case, but some of its studies had been cited by those involved.

“An act of harassment,” McDonald said. An aide to Cornyn said he was just doing his job.

The Perry case is only a few weeks old, but McDonald said he’s already being deluged with hateful messages on the group’s Facebook page, along with threatening emails and phone messages.

“The volume and intensity of this vitriol far exceeds anything we’ve seen in 16 years,” he said.

Perry spokesman Travis Considine said the governor was not associated with such messages and “does not support or condone disrespectful or threatening behavior, whether it occurs in person or online.”

A state district judge from Austin was clearly not pleased by Perry’s remarks about holding accountable those responsible for his indictment. She said she will protect members of the grand jury that indicted him from any threats — veiled or direct.

As for McDonald, he has long relied on foundations, advocates of campaign finance reform and trial lawyers for donations to keep his group going. The group has gone after both Republicans and Democrats, but its harshest critics have focused on GOP targets and say Texans for Public Justice is bankrolled by affiliates of George Soros, an investor and prominent Democratic donor.

In fact, McDonald said, many sources of funding have dried up. Nobody’s been paid recently. The group has less than $1,000 in the bank, he said, as it finds itself in the political cross hairs again.

“TPJ has challenged a number of high-ranking state officials who often try to turn the power of their offices against us,” he said. “Power corrupts.”